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Standard pond

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Standard Pond play: eco first with Bot Lab and later Advanced Metal Extractor, boosting the fronts with Tidal Generators and sending Grunts forward; no special catch.

#eco #team support · 91 distinct matches · 38 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 91 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 5:03

  1. Build tidal generators first to start boosting the fronts.
  2. Grab mex and energy storage before committing further.
  3. Put down the bot lab and start sending Grunts forward.
  4. Fill out wind and add a Guard for early defense.
  5. Transition to T2 with an advanced mex once front stabilizes.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 91 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal−2 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 3 wind, 2 tidaldone ~3:33, middle half 3:23–4:45

    By 3:14 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 53 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. Mex
    6. Wind ×2
    7. Energy storage
    8. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 3:28
    9. Wind
    10. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    11. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Geo
    12. Wind
    13. Con turret
    14. Wind ×5
    15. Con turret
    16. Wind
    17. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    18. Wind
    19. Energy storage
    20. Wind ×3
    21. Converter ×2
    22. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 6:18
    23. GuardGuard
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    25. Converter
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    27. Converter
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    29. Converter
    30. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    31. Converter
    32. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    33. GuardGuard
    34. Con turret
    35. GuardGuard
    36. Con turret
    37. Wind ×3
    38. Con turret
    39. IncisorIncisor
    40. Wind
    41. IncisorIncisor
    42. Wind ×2
    43. IncisorIncisor
    44. Wind ×2
    45. IncisorIncisor ×2
    46. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×3done 9:14 · typical 9:06
    47. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    48. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    49. Bot LabBot Labnot finished by 15:00
    50. Con turret
    51. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    52. Con turret
    53. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:50 · typical 3:33
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard

    Some games also: con bot (49%) · con turret (45%) · converter (36%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine15Wind+15 vs standard
    • Energy Converter3Converter+3 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (47%) · con bot (32%) · eat Bot Lab (43%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 24 wind (standard 8) · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 6 converter (standard 1) · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 107 steps
    1. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:55
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 11:00
    3. GruntGrunt ×4
    4. IncisorIncisor
    5. GruntGrunt
    6. RascalRascal
    7. GruntGrunt ×2
    8. RascalRascal
    9. GruntGrunt ×2
    10. RascalRascal
    11. GruntGrunt ×3
    12. RascalRascal
    13. GruntGrunt ×3
    14. RascalRascal
    15. GruntGrunt ×3
    16. RascalRascal
    17. GruntGrunt ×3
    18. RascalRascal
    19. GruntGrunt ×2
    20. RascalRascal
    21. GruntGrunt ×2
    22. RascalRascal
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    25. RascalRascal
    26. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    27. RascalRascal
    28. GruntGrunt ×2
    29. RascalRascal
    30. GruntGrunt ×3
    31. RascalRascal
    32. GruntGrunt ×2
    33. RascalRascal
    34. GruntGrunt ×2
    35. RascalRascal
    36. GruntGrunt ×2
    37. RascalRascal
    38. GruntGrunt ×2
    39. RascalRascal
    40. Wind
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Wind ×6
    43. RascalRascal
    44. Wind ×3
    45. GruntGrunt ×2
    46. Wind
    47. Advanced solar
    48. RascalRascal
    49. Advanced solar
    50. GruntGrunt
    51. RascalRascal
    52. GruntGrunt ×3
    53. Wind
    54. RascalRascal
    55. GruntGrunt ×4
    56. RascalRascal
    57. GruntGrunt ×2
    58. Wind
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. RascalRascal
    61. GruntGrunt ×2
    62. RascalRascal
    63. GruntGrunt ×2
    64. RascalRascal
    65. GruntGrunt ×2
    66. Wind
    67. GruntGrunt ×2
    68. RascalRascal
    69. GruntGrunt ×3
    70. Wind
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. RascalRascal
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Construction BotCon bot
    75. RascalRascal
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt ×3
    79. RascalRascal
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. RascalRascal
    84. GruntGrunt ×2
    85. RascalRascal
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×3
    88. Converter
    89. RascalRascal
    90. GruntGrunt ×2
    91. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    92. RascalRascal
    93. Con turret
    94. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    95. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 14:22
    96. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    97. Con turret ×2
    98. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 14:24
    99. Energy storage
    100. Converter
    101. Wind
    102. Converter
    103. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    104. Wind
    105. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    106. Converter
    107. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×3

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is zeus_on_god's (37 OS, 20/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · in 96% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:19 · in 79% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build, running totals by minute

Metal produced

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

91 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0025900
3:0073700
4:00140900
5:00213000
6:00294900
7:00382900
8:0048745486
9:006257220189
10:007661350640
11:009859766836
12:001209211961075
13:001453415781661
14:001688118141995
15:001936126322964
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This Cortex pond baseline wins under half its games, with enemy metal destroyed just ahead of own losses by 15:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed (3099) edges past own metal lost (3482) less than in Armada pond.
  • − Bot Lab finishes later (5:03) than the Armada pond norm (3:41), slower front support.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

zeus_on_god

37.1 OS · 20/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
221 metal received · 109557 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:33Middle 50%: 3:23–4:45 · n=67
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 7:42–10:16 · n=74

Played most by

Yamato18games of this buildzeus_on_god7games of this buildEpicTyrannus6games of this buildEXZoPrimer36games of this buildBoozha5games of this build